Up Front- The Coin Toss

Shannon NewtonPresident, ATA

Finally! It’s almost over. And I can hardly contain my excitement. Like so many of you, with the end in sight, I found myself asking, “Is it over yet?”

Oh wait, did you think I was referring to the never-ending presidential election campaign?

I’m talking about something much more pleasant... football.

After 7 months without anything more than spring football, media days and those surely meaningless preseason polls, the anticipation is over.

I forgive you for thinking I was writing about the presidential campaign though. I feel your pain. I suspect—whether right, left or somewhere in between—it is wearing on us all.

Historians tell us that over-simplifying complex issues and sloganeering has always been part of our campaigns. Yet, in today’s multi-channel, multi-platform, always on, sound-bite selling, 24-hour news cycle, it is louder and more relentless than ever before.

Perhaps though, the main reason the campaign feels so long and has worn out its welcome is simply because it is too long.

So right about now, at the end of a long hot summer, I’m just plain ready for some football and I’m betting you can relate.

As I am writing on the day before the college season kicks off, everyone’s favorite team is undefeated. Athletes and fans alike are filled with optimism and hope for an unforgettable year.

Rah-rah motivational speeches are being delivered at pep rallies and in locker rooms in every college town across this country. No doubt, coaches are already scripting their rousing pregame or halftime words of inspiration and motivation.

Who among us doesn’t love a good pep talk? I haven’t ever personally been in a “real” locker room with an authoritative figure sweating, spitting and shouting life analogies, aiming to inspire me to push my physical limits and achieve greatness. But I am captivated by the locker room cam when moments like these are revealed on SportsCenter.

I don’t think you have to even like football to appreciate these type of speeches. So much of what we love about sports is how they parallel real life. Whether it’s an us-against-them mentality, or striving to overcome adversity and surpass expectations, honoring those who came before, leaving a legacy for those to follow, coming together to achieve a common goal… the tropes of sports and competition are just as familiar off the field.

But sports are also an escape from real life and, thankfully, this very surreal election season.

So even if football is not your jam, just enjoy the break from political season for a Saturday. For a few blissful hours we won’t hear…

“When I’m president… or “If I am elected president…”

Right about now, I want to put on my game day gear, dig into some tailgate food and call those Hogs!

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